Progress
As I've already written we had very visible progress this morning as our diesel engine is no longer on board. Vida now has no fossil fuels on board (although we are still connected to the boatyard electric supply at the moment). Jane also managed to get the whole
Electric
In my earlier post Stuffing box flange is off! we achieved the job that has been worrying me most during lockdown. So with that done we spent the rest of this extra day off clearing more debris from the diesel engine and preparing for the electric motor. This is the
Appliances
We have had lots of comments that salt water and electrics are not compatible. We also see lots of YouTube channels who find that their electronics (laptops, hard disks, cameras etc) do not last well in salt water environments. This shouldn't come as a surprise. So what are
Electric
So I recently wrote Cabin Refurbishment: Part 4 Layout, however, at that point we hadn't been on Vida for over 3 months during which time our thinking has been evolving. So our ideas were based on memory and the drawings which are a little inaccurate for the internal
Electric
So on holiday this week but still at home. Very much trying not to take risks or push boundaries of the rules. So today Jane has finished another Saloon backrest: We have also been making more motor progress. Working on 2 frame back plates, I finished drilling the end stop
Electric
I'm really pleased with where we have reached today. I took the plunge and started the other panels for the motor frame. Both the front and back panels are made up of 2x 3mm panels as I couldn't find 6mm sheet stainless steel. Turns out that
Electric
So we have the main components for the reduction gears for our electric motor. Note that in the picture the items are laid out on their side, in reality the electric motor will be above the reduction box shaft. On the left is a sheet of paper representing the electric
Electric
Now that our engine compartment is empty we have been able to more accurately work out where everything will go. We can fit the motor batteries (each 300AH) at the side of the motor. By stacking two batteries each side we can have the entire motor and it's
Progress
Today hasn't been quite what we expected. But then when you start taking very old bits of boat apart exposing areas that have been hidden since 1977 you never know quite what to expect. The main cabin roof area turned out to have a mesh backed foam behind
Electric
So, if we do decide to fit an electric motor what are we looking at? We follow five sailing channels on Youtube who have fitted electric motors: * Spoondrifters: ELECTRIC SAILBOAT | Choosing an electric motor for your sailboat * Sailing Uma: Our Electric Motor (Electro-Beke, part 1) * Beau and Brandy: Cheap sailboat
Appliances
I'm not writing about IT or programming here (although there can be similar problems). By this I'm thinking of Single Point of Failures (SPOF) and taking that a bit further. By SPOF I mean the danger of one item failing and causing a cascade of failures.
Electric
So I've started building the new battery box at home. So far just a dry assembly. All the timber will be sanded and epoxy coated before using epoxy to glue as well as screws. Apart from the plywood base (left over from settee bases) the rest of the